Your favorite holiday beverages in one delicious cake! The perfect mix of naughty and nice in this festive Rum & Eggnog Bundt.
It’s crazy that it’s been 8 months since I joined Bundt Bakers. I honestly look forward to it every month. I love having a set theme to work with and trying to come up with something unique and delicious. Plus, it’s an amazing group of bakers!
This month it was my turn to host, and I chose the theme Naughty or Nice. It was up to each baker to decide which direction they wanted to take and come up with a festive bundt around that theme. My Rum & Eggnog Bundt this month is a bit of a mix of both naughty and nice, because why not?
This might just be the best smelling cake I have ever made. Is that a weird thing to say? Maybe, but it seriously smells SO damn good. They should bottle this stuff – it’s intoxicating. I adapted this Bundt from last year’s Rum & Eggnog Loaf and used my S’mores Bundt as a base for it (minus the graham crackers).
Rather than doing a glaze for this cake, I wanted something a bit richer, so I opted for a cream cheese frosting. I’m not the biggest cream cheese fan, and find it overpowering at times, but it really works with this cake! The sweetness of the cake is toned down by the tanginess of the cream cheese frosting.
The frosting actually curdled on me a bit, likely because I used cold eggnog straight from the fridge instead of letting it come to room temperature. I forgot to let it sit out before making the frosting and assumed that 2 Tbsp wouldn’t make a difference. Well, it does! Learn from my (many) mistakes, people. Make sure ALL of your ingredients are at room temperature. This should be the case for almost anything you bake, unless it’s a pie crust and requires cold butter. Take the ingredients out about 2 hours before you plan to use them — butter, eggs, milk, etc.
The flavor of this Rum & Eggnog Bundt is truly unique and delicious — not like any cake I’ve had before! The eggnog and nutmeg add a yummy holiday flavor, and the rum kicks it up a notch.
Rum & Eggnog Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Rum & Eggnog Bundt Cake:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp nutmeg ground
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon ground
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup eggnog room temperature
- 2 Tbsp rum or rum extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter 57g, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp rum or rum extract
- 2 Tbsp eggnog room temperature
Instructions
Bundt:
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 10 or 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray (I use Pam for Baking).
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth.
- Add sugars and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (2-3mins).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add rum and vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and eggnog, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of eggnog). Fully incorporating after each addition. Do not overmix.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula and whack the pan against the counter to evenly distribute.
- Bake for 45 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cake on wire rack to cool for 10mins. Whack the pan on the counter to loosen the cake and turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting:
- Beat cream cheese and butter until pale and fluffy. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Add rum and eggnog. Beat until fully combined.
- Pour over cooled cake and sprinkle with nutmeg if desired.
Felicia says
What kind of Rum do you use in your cakes? Especially this one and the Eggnog cake?
Olivia says
Hi Felicia! I just use whatever I have on hand. Usually it’s Appleton Estate.
Mj goodman says
This is a very delicious cake. Easy to make I bake almost every day and make lots of cakes in this is a keeper for the holidays.
Olivia says
Hi MJ! Thanks for the wonderful feedback. I’m so happy you love it.
Kathy says
Do I have to refrigerate this cake?
Olivia says
Hi Kathy! Without the cream cheese frosting it will be fine at room temperature for a few days but with the frosting I would refrigerate.
Alice says
How well does it keep if I make it ahead of time?
Olivia says
Hi Alice! You can freeze the whole cake (without frosting) properly wrapped in something airtight. Otherwise it will stay fresh for 2-3 days at room temperature (unfrosted) or in the fridge.
Linda says
I was just wondering can I make this cake in two 9×5 loaf pans?
Olivia says
Hi Linda! Yes, be sure to adjust the baking time though.
Ken says
I can’t rate this recipe yet because I haven’t made it, but want to for Christmas. The problem is that I don’t have a stand up mixer, the question is can I use a hand mixer and which attachment is best. Once I make it I will definitely rate. Thanks Ken
Olivia says
Hi Ken! You can totally use a hand mixer. Use the beater attachments (not the whisk ones). Let me know how it turns out!
Tiffany says
Thank you for this delicious recipe! The flavor is SO GOOD! I used white rum and will probably add 1-2 Tbsp to the cake next time (and there WILL be a next time!). I also had some leftover frosting from the eggnog cake (also from this site) so I used that, whipped with some added rum and eggnog – it goes so well with the cake. YUM!
Olivia says
Hi Tiffany! I am so happy you loved it! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Candace Kirt says
Hello,
I made this cake and ove the combination of the egg nog and nutmeg! My only question is regarding the density of the cake. Is this cake more dense than normal? I just found it to be quite heavy. Maybe I did something wrong?
Thanks6
Olivia says
Hi Candace! Bundt cakes are definitely more on the dense side. More dense than layer cakes for sure but should still be pleasant to eat. Overly dense cakes can be from overmixing the cake batter once the flour is added (it develops too much gluten) or too much flour.
Natalie says
Soooo tasty!! I added walnuts for an extra crunch, taste is amazing not too sweet not too plain 🙂 taste great with a morning cup of coffee, my boyfriend and his friends all loved it as well! I did have to bake it ~15 minutes longer but our oven is older, just a tidbit. Thanks for the yummy recipe!!
Olivia says
Hi Natalie! I’m so happy you loved it 🙂
Trudy says
Hi, I wanted to know if I could bake the cake and then put the frosting on the next day before serving
Olivia says
Hi Trudy! Yes, that’s totally fine 🙂
Carolyn says
Beyond wonderful!!!
Olivia says
Thank you Carolyn!
Michelle says
Could you please give me some storage tips and how long it lasts?
Olivia says
Hi Michelle! Since the glaze has cream cheese in it, I would recommend refrigerating in an airtight container. Without the glaze it would do fine at room temp for a few days. Overall it should be good for 5 days or so, but it will try out the longer it sits. I recommend eating within 3 days ideally.
Liky says
Can i use this recipe for mini bundt cakes? I have a size 10 but I would really like to make it in my mini bundt cake pans. What do you suggest?
Olivia says
Hi Liky! Yes, that should work just fine. They’ll need less baking time though, maybe 15mins or so. Let me know how they turn out!
Avery says
I would also like to use mini bundt pans on this, what size pans would you suggest if I were to bake them for 15 minuets? Thanks.
Olivia says
Hi Avery! My favourite is the mini Heritage Bundt pan from Nordic Ware. You’d need a couple of them though as each one only takes 4 cups of batter and the pan I used has a 10 cup capacity.
Avery says
Thanks Olivia, how many mini bundt cakes do you think this recipe will make if I use 4 inch mini bundt pans?
Olivia says
Hi Avery! What is the volume of those Bundt pans? This cake I baked in a 10 cup Bundt pan.
Maria says
Dear Olivia,
I made the eggnog bundt this weekend for a friends gathering. Everybody loved it. The frosting gives the cake the little extra twist. I added some frozen berries and left out some sugar which worked out just fine!
Thanx for the great recipe
Olivia says
Hi Maria! I’m so glad everyone liked it! 🙂
Alyssa says
Made this for my large family christmas dinner, and it was a big hit! Looked beautiful on my festive red glass cake stand. I didn’t use all of the icing for this (super yummy by the way, even though mine curdled as well), as it covered the beautiful design of the bundt cake, and most of my family members don’t like too much of it. So I drizzled about a quarter of the amount on top. However, this resulted in the only complaint I received with it…the cake itself is not sweet enough. I personally thought it was good, but it’s definitely not the super decadent dessert people were looking for. Although, it is ideal for eating with coffee/eggnog/baileys.
Olivia says
Hi Alyssa! I’m so glad it was a hit! I agree that the cake itself isn’t overly sweet, but the frosting helps with that! I had some extra and slathered it on each slice, no shame, haha.
Renee says
I’ll take three slices of that cake. One for now, one for later, and one for the next day.
Great photos too. And thanks a bunch for hosting.
Olivia says
You got it! 😀 Thanks Renee!
Tammy says
Dear Liv, You have brought together a grand month for Bundt Bakers! Thank you for hosting. As always, your bundt is absolutely gorgeous and I can only imagine how delicious it tastes! 😀 Wishing I had a slice right now ^_^
Toodles,
Tammy<3
Olivia says
Thanks so much Tammy! <3
Christiane ~ Taking On Magazines says
That whole ‘best smelling cake’ had me breathing deeply as though I’d be able to get a whiff through my monitor. While it didn’t work, I can tell from how gorgeous it is that the cake was delicious. It looks amazing.
Olivia says
Ahh, I wish you COULD actually smell it. You may just have to make your own 🙂 Thanks Christiane!
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
I loooove eggnog cake, but that glaze tho – WOW and YUMMMMM!
Olivia says
It’s SO good. Wish I could have sent you some! xo
Felice says
A beautiful cake and equally beautiful photos. It never hurts to kick things up a notch and you definitely have me craving some eggnog and rum in cake form. Thanks for hosting this month.
Olivia says
Thanks Felice!